Senators Sign Shane Pinto To Two-Year Deal
The Ottawa Senators have signed center Shane Pinto to a two-year, $7.5MM contract. The deal will carry an annual average value of $3.75MM. Pinto went through a tumultuous season last year, missing the first 41 games of the regular season for violating the league’s gambling policy. He eventually signed a contract for the league minimum of $775K on January 19th.
Once he was back in the lineup, the 23-year-old had a strong season, dressing in 41 games and posting nine goals and 18 assists while registering a +9. His underlying numbers were excellent, particularly his possession numbers as he posted a CF% of 53.8% at even-strength.
The Franklin Square, New York native was probably hoping for more stability this offseason but settled on a two-year term which could effectively come with a third year at $5MM as the second year of his deal is reportedly for $5MM (as per CapFriendly).
A former second-round pick (32nd overall) in the 2019 NHL entry draft, Pinto went through a tough contract negotiation with Ottawa last summer before his suspension and is sure to be happy to have a deal done early in July. Ottawa was able to facilitate the deal with Pinto after they sent Mathieu Joseph to the St. Louis Blues (along with a third-round pick), effectively clearing out his $2.95MM cap hit for the next two years.
Pinto has been mainly a third-line center in Ottawa, however, with Joshua Norris injured last season Pinto was elevated in the lineup and played solid minutes as the Senators’ second-line center. Pinto averaged over 18 minutes of ice time per game which was an increase of more than two minutes a night. With the uncertainty of Norris going forward, the Senators have a terrific backup option with Pinto as he has already demonstrated he can be a second-line center in the NHL.
Two-Way Signings: Schueneman, Aspirot, Gaudette, Gambrell, Poolman, Richard, Entwistle
The first day of NHL free agency saw over $1B spent for the first time in league history. Much of that went to stars across the league, though general managers are also having to focus on building up their farm programs. Here are five smaller names signed on Tuesday. Each of these deals carry a $775K cap hit at the NHL level, unless otherwise specified.
- The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Corey Schueneman to a one-year contract. Schueneman, 28, appeared in 64 games with the Colorado Eagles this season, netting four goals, 22 points, 24 penalty minutes, and a +2. He’s a quick-paced, hard-shooting defender who carries a lot of heft in his frame, even at 5-foot-11. He’s already made his NHL debut, appearing in 31 games with Montreal between 2021 and 2023 and scoring two goals and seven points. Schueneman is likely set for a role on the Springfield Thunderbirds lineup, where he’ll compete for ice time with Blues prospects like Marc-Andre Gaudet and Hunter Skinner.
- The Calgary Flames have re-signed defender Jonathan Aspirot to a one-year contract. Aspirot, 25, spent 66 games with the Calgary Wranglers last season, scoring a career-high 33 points and adding 80 penalty minutes and a -6. It was Aspirot’s first year in Calgary, after spending four years with the Belleville Senators. He totaled 63 points in 161 games with Belleville, and will now be set to reassume his top-end role with the Wranglers next season.
- Belleville is due for their own reinforcements, with the Ottawa Senators signing Adam Gaudette to a one-year deal (Twitter link). Gaudette, 27, led the AHL with 44 goals last season, in his pursuit of 71 points across 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. It was a breakout year for Gaudette, after totaling 27 goals and 51 points in 65 games between the Toronto Marlies and Thunderbirds in 2022-23. Gaudette was formerly a top prospect in the NHL, appearing in 220 games across six seasons in the NHL. He’s only managed 27 goals and 70 points in those appearances, though his recent scoring could suggest upside still untapped. The Senators will hope that’s the case, as they position Gaudette for a premier role in the AHL next year.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Dylan Gambrell to a one-year deal. Gambrell spent all of this seaosn in the minor leagues, playing in 66 games with the Marlies. He managed 14 goals and 36 points – his highest AHL scoring since the 2018-19 season. Gambrell has been based much more in the NHL over the last six seasons, totaling 233 games and 40 points. He’ll be set for a top line role with the Cleveland Monsters, and push for a spot near the bottom of Columbus’ NHL lineup.
- The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Colton Poolman to a one-year deal (Twitter link). Poolman, 28, has spent the entirety of his four-year pro career in the Flames organization to date. The younger brother of Canucks defenseman Tucker Poolman had three goals and three assists in 66 games for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers last season.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Anthony Richard to a two-year deal (Twitter link). Richard spent 59 games with the Providence Bruins last year, netting 25 goals and 55 points. It was a small step down for Richard, after netting 30 goals and 67 points last year. He’s also totaled 24 NHL games since 2018, scoring eight points. Richard should be set for a starring role with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, with a chance to push for the NHL roster.
- The Florida Panthers signed MacKenzie Entwistle to a one-year deal. Entwistle, 24, has spent most of the last three seasons on the Chicago Blackhawks lineup, though he’s managed just 33 points in 188 games. He’ll now join the reigning Stanley Cup champions, though his two-way deal suggests he’ll have to work his way up to the NHL from an AHL start.
Blues Acquire Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph
The Blues have acquired center Radek Faksa from the Stars for future considerations, the team announced. In a separate trade with the Senators, they’ve also picked up winger Mathieu Joseph and a 2025 third-round pick with future considerations heading to Ottawa in return.
With the deals, St. Louis essentially makes a pair of slightly overpriced free-agent signings and receives a third-round pick for their trouble. Faksa is signed for next season at a $3.25MM cap hit, while Joseph is signed for two more years at a $2.95MM cap hit. No salary was retained in the deals.
Both should slot into everyday bottom-six roles with the Blues, while Joseph could have some mobility up to the second line. He’s coming off a strong season in a depth role for Ottawa, recording 11 goals and 35 points in 72 games. He was more than serviceable for what he cost, but the Sens desperately needed to open up cap space with Shane Pinto in need of a new contract (although he does remain a trade candidate, per The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco) and a handful of other forward spots still to fill.
The problem for Ottawa is that they’ll now need to replace Joseph’s production, not something they can confidently do for less than what he costs. After parting ways with him and picking up Michael Amadio and David Perron in free agency yesterday, they likely still need a top-nine forward in order to boast a playoff-caliber offense next season, something they may not be able to afford based on how much a new deal for Pinto costs them. They have $7.35MM in projected cap space remaining after the Joseph trade, per CapFriendly.
Dallas, too, needed to open up some cap space for an RFA in need of a new deal – defenseman Thomas Harley. The Stars rebuilt their blue line on the fly yesterday after losing Jani Hakanpää and Chris Tanev and buying out Ryan Suter, bringing in Mathew Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and Brendan Smith while also giving a new deal to Nils Lundkvist, who was briefly a UFA after not receiving a qualifying offer. They now have almost $8MM in space after the move, opening enough space to re-sign Harley and land a more economical replacement for Faksa on the open market among the few names that are left.
Faksa’s cap hit wasn’t an outright albatross for Dallas, and he remains a premier fourth-line center with a good defensive game, receiving Selke votes four times in his career. But over $3MM annually was a tad tough to swallow for a player who’s only had double-digit goals once in the past four years and is coming off a 19-point campaign in 74 games last season. His usage had slipped, averaging 12:31 per game last season – his lowest since his rookie year.
He’s a similarly-priced and more defensively-oriented replacement in St. Louis for Kevin Hayes, who they traded to the Penguins over the weekend. Over his first 638 NHL games, all in Dallas, Faksa had 89 goals and 200 points with a -11 rating.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was first to report that Faksa was headed to the Blues.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the Blues were acquiring Joseph.
TSN’s Chris Johnston was first to report the Senators were sending a draft pick to the Blues in exchange for future considerations.
Minor Free Agent Signings: Atlantic Division
With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Atlantic Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.
Boston Bruins
F Cole Koepke (one year)
D Jordan Oesterle (two years)
D Billy Sweezey (two years)
F Riley Tufte (one year)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year)
Buffalo Sabres
F Joshua Dunne (two years)
F Mason Jobst (one year)
F Brett Murray (one year)
D Jack Rathbone (one year)
G Felix Sandström (one year)
Detroit Red Wings
F Sheldon Dries (two years)
F Joe Snively (one year)
Florida Panthers
F Rasmus Asplund (one year)
Montreal Canadiens
none
Ottawa Senators
D Jeremy Davies (one year)
F Hayden Hodgson (one year)
F Garrett Pilon (two years)
D Filip Roos (one year)
Tampa Bay Lightning
D Derrick Pouliot (one year)
D Steven Santini (one year)
F Jesse Ylönen (one year)
Toronto Maple Leafs
none
Shane Pinto Has Not Requested Trade From Senators
2:32 p.m.: Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff has counteracted Di Marco’s report, claiming that Pinto has not officially asked Ottawa for a trade.
10:13 a.m.: Earlier this morning, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported that forward Shane Pinto may be leaning towards requesting a trade from the Ottawa Senators. Following up on the initial report, Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period confirms Pinto has officially requested a trade from the organization.
This request continues what’s been a very eventful four years in Ottawa. Originally drafted 32nd-overall, then a second-round pick, in the 2019 NHL Draft – Pinto turned pro at the end of the 2020-21 season and managed seven points across his first 12 games. It was an electric start but Senators fans would have to wait for the encore, as a dislocated right shoulder would rob Pinto of all but five games in the 2021-22 season. He came back from the injury with purpose last season, posting 20 goals and 35 points through 82 games while serving as an everyday middle-six center.
Finally removed from injury and on the back of a 20-goal season, this year was meant to be Pinto’s breakout performance. Instead, it very quickly became a year to forget, as Pinto was dealt a 41-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy. The punishment was handed out while Pinto was in the middle of contract negotiations with Ottawa. The Senators instead signed Pinto through the second half of the 2023-24 season, set on finding him a longer-term deal in RFA negotiations this summer. Pinto vindicated the deal with a strong nine goals and 27 points – on pace for 54 points across 82 games, which would’ve sat 17 points above his career-high.
But even after so many ups-and-downs, it seems Ottawa won’t be the ones to benefit from Pinto’s slow burn. He’ll instead enter the trade market, where plenty of teams will surely be eager to sign a productive, 23-year-old centerman. Ottawa extended a qualifying offer to Pinto before the June 30th deadline, giving them control over his rights throughout the summer, though any new team will also have to sign him to his next contract.
Senators Sign David Perron, Michael Amadio, Three Others
The Senators have picked up forward Noah Gregor on a one-year deal worth $850K, per Sports 1440’s Jason Gregor. He became a UFA after being non-tendered by the Maple Leafs yesterday. Additionally, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch announces the Senators are nearing an agreement with David Perron that will likely check in around $4MM a season. Furthermore, the Senators continue to round out their forward core as Darren Dreger of TSN reports the team has also agreed to terms with Michael Amadio on a three-year, $7.8MM contract.
Attacking the middle and bottom six of their forward core, the Senators made several improvements without having to dish out much capital. As the most sizeable addition regarding salary figures, Perron brings a good work ethic and leadership capabilities to a young Ottawa roster.
Over the last two years spent with the Detroit Red Wings organization, Perron scored 41 goals and 103 points in 158 games, with 39 of those points coming on Detroit’s powerplay. The veteran forward also elevated his physical play as he amassed 218 total body checks in a top-six role. In Ottawa, the Senators can move Perron up and down the lineup depending on team needs and matchups as he enters the twilight years of his career.
Amadio and Gregor will both improve Ottawa’s bottom six this upcoming season. As one of the more underrated bottom six players in the league over the last few seasons, Amadio scored 41 goals and 72 points over 193 games for the Vegas Golden Knights while averaging 11:25 minutes of ice time per night. Gregor has shown flashes of 20-point campaigns in the past but only managed to score six goals and 12 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
The team also announced they’ve inked minor league forward Garrett Pilon to a two-year, two-way contract with a $775K cap hit. Lastly, there’s another minor-league signing in the form of defenseman Jeremy Davies, who joins on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$350K AHL.
Senators Trade Jakob Chychrun To Capitals
The Washington Capitals have acquired defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators, per a team announcement. Ottawa is receiving defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round pick in return. The deal comes nearly a year and a half after the Senators acquired Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick.
Chychrun should immediately step into a top-four position on the Capitals blue line next to a shutdown defenseman. On a subpar Senators team, Chychrun put up 14 goals and 41 points in 82 games with 16 of those points coming while on the team’s powerplay.
There is some critique of Chychrun’s game on the defensive side of the puck as he finished the 2023-24 season with a -30 rating on the team’s top-pairing. In Chychrun’s defense, Ottawa was plagued by uniquely bad goaltending during the regular season which could have also factored into Chychrun’s 88.0% on-ice save percentage in all situations. The young defenseman finished the year with an expected +/- of 0.4 according to HockeyReference which shows some of Chychrun’s poor defensive metrics were in part due to the Senators’ style of play.
Heading to Ottawa is Jensen who has two years remaining on a three-year, $12.12MM extension signed with Washington towards the end of the 2022-23 regular season. Heading into the 2023-24 season, Jensen was coming off a stretch of 153 games with the Capitals in which he scored 10 goals and 50 points from the blue line. Jensen would only score one goal and 14 points in 79 games for the Capitals this season in a disappointing follow-up.
Becoming more apparent by the day that Chychrun was unwilling to sign an extension with the Senators, the team can get out from under his contract while keeping their defensive structure in place. Chychrun will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season as the 26-year-old defenseman is approaching the end of a six-year, $27.6MM contract originally signed with the Arizona Coyotes.
Senators Expected To Pursue Matt Roy
- The Senators are expected to make an aggressive pitch for pending UFA defenseman Matt Roy, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 29-year-old is positioned to be one of the top right-shot defenders to hit the open market on Monday and is coming off a strong year that saw him record 25 points, 197 blocks, and 152 hits in 81 games while averaging just under 21 minutes a night. After making $3.15MM the last three seasons, he could potentially come close to doubling that in free agency which would be very difficult for Ottawa to fit into their current salary structure.
Shane Pinto Hoping To Be Offer-Sheeted
Offer sheets are a rarity in the NHL and it’s even rarer that there is word of a player believed to be trying to solicit one on the opening day of free agency. However, that appears to be the case in Ottawa as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that Shane Pinto’s camp will be looking to get an offer sheet when the market opens up on Monday.
[Related: Offer Sheet Thresholds for 2024]
The Senators and Pinto haven’t had much success with contract talks. Last year, the two sides weren’t close to an agreement for most of the summer and just when it looked like they were closing in on an agreement, the 23-year-old was suspended for the first half of the season for a violation of the league’s gambling policy. Upon being reinstated, he didn’t have much choice but to accept a pro-rated deal for the minimum salary of $775K.
To his credit, Pinto was rather productive for the Sens down the stretch, notching nine goals and 18 assists while logging over 18 minutes a night. That brought him up to 30 goals and 40 assists in 140 career NHL appearances.
Both sides were believed to be interested in a long-term agreement but a report in mid-May suggested that they were far apart on money with Pinto’s camp believed to be seeking around $5MM on that contract. The report that he’s now seeking an offer sheet indicates that they remain far apart in discussions.
A $5MM asking price pegs the required compensation at a first-round pick and a third-round pick. Both of those must be 2025 selections and the offer-sheeting team must have their own picks to use; they can’t substitute one from another team. That means that 16 teams are ineligible to attempt to give Pinto an offer sheet at that threshold, per CapFriendly, unless they’re able to re-acquire their own selections first.
Once the market officially opens up at 11 AM CT on Monday, there will generally be a free-for-all when it comes to unrestricted free agent signings so if Pinto is to get his way and get an offer sheet, he may have to be patient and wait for the dust to settle before assessing if there is a viable option out there. Unlike many restricted free agents, salary arbitration isn’t an option as he is ineligible for one this summer so if he wants to show the Sens that he’s worth the money he’s seeking, an offer sheet is the only route he can take.
Senators Still Trying To Move Brannstrom Before Sunday's Tender Deadline
The Senators will soon have a decision to make on pending RFA defenseman Erik Brannstrom who is owed a $2MM qualifying offer on Sunday, one that carries arbitration rights. However, they’re hoping to not be the ones to have to make that decision in the end as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter link) that Ottawa is continuing its efforts to try to trade the 24-year-old. Being a strong offensive threat in Sweden helped make Brannstrom the 15th overall selection back in 2017 but he hasn’t been able to become a consistent threat at that end in the NHL. This season, Brannstrom had 20 points in 76 games, a handful of which were spent as a winger.